Letter-file.



Patented lan go, 1900.

' c. H. WILEY.

L E T T E R Fl L E.

(Application filed Dec. 26, 1896.)

N0 Model.)

IF STATE PATENT OFFICE.

CLARE CE II. \VILEY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

LETTER-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,190, dated January 30, 1900. Application filed December 26,1896. Serial No. 616,992. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE I-I. WILEY, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Files, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to the general class of letter or bill files that consists of a portable case constructed usually of some light and flexible material and provided with means whereby the papers are temporarily placed on file and afterward, when the case has become full, removed to a place of permanent deposit; and the object of my invention is to provide in a file of this class a simple and convenient means for the removal of the papers and one in which the liability of displacing the papers in such removal is greatly lessened; and the further object is to provide such means of a simple and cheap construction and one that shall readily adapt itself to use in connection with the special file hereinafter described.

To this end my invention consists in the details of the several parts making up the filecase as a whole and in their combination, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a per spective view of a file-case in connection with which my invention is more especially adapted. Fig. 2 is a detail view in cross-section through the case, showing one of the removable pockets in place. Fig. 3 is a top view of the case, showing a number of the removable pookets in place in the file. Fig. 4 is a detail view, in side elevation, of one end of a removable pocket. Fig. 5 isa detail end view of one of the removable pockets.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the sides of a file, that may be made of any durable and flexible material, as strong and substantial pasteboard, that may be suitably covered, if desired, with a fabric. These sides are connected at each end by folded and gusseted end pieces I) and at the bottom by a bottom piece 0, folded and gusseted in a mannor similar to that of the end pieces. These folds are evenly constructed to form the gussets, and the ends and bottom may be formed of a single piece of material suitably folded to form the end corners at the bottom and the whole secured to the sides of the file in any suitable manner. One side of the file may be provided with a flap d, adapted for folding over the open edge of the file and lie along the opposite side of the case, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. This flap may be made integral with the side of the case or may be made of a separate piece secured thereto.

That portion of the file described is of wellknown construction and does not form, except in combination with my hereinafter-described improvement, any feature of the intion, my improvement being especially applicable in connection with the form of letterfile shown and described in my pending application of Serial No. 599,801, filed July 20, 1896. In use with a file of this class the papers are usually placed in the case in alphabetical order, the letters forming the index being assigned to the pockets in such proportion as to cause all of the pockets to be filled at the same time. It is, however, practically impossible to so arrange the letters of the index that the pockets shall be evenly filled, and in a number of instances some of the pockets will be crowded to their utmost capacity, while others will contain very few papers. Another difiiculty is experienced in the use of the file from the liability of the papers after having been alphabetically ar ranged within the file to become displaced in removing them to a permanent place of deposit. Myinvention has for its object the produc tion of a device that shall overcome the faults above referred to, which I accomplish by pro:

Viding a removable partition or pocket 6. In the form of the pocket shown herein the pocket consists of side pieces fg, connected at the bottom by a gusseted piece h. This gusset is formed to correspond with the gusseted bottom of the file in connection with which it is used, and its special form will allow the pocket to expand simultaneously with the file as the papers are deposited within it.

In the construction of a file for use in connection with my improved pocket partitions t' are placed in the file, extending from end to end; but a much less number of the permanent partitions are used than in prior structures. The removable pockets are placed be-v tween the permanent partitions in any desired number, and these pocket-s may have the gnsseted bottom formed with any number of gussets to allow the pocket to accommodate itself to any quantity of papers placed therein.

In the use of the file it is intended to place on the permanent partitions the usual indexes and to place on the edges of the pockets a supplemental index, which shall, however, correspond to the index on the perma nent partitions between which the pocket is placed. This supplemental index may be conveniently arranged on the removable pocket with reference to the desired character on the main index, as shown in Fig. 4, and after it has been determined in which space 1 he pocket is to be placed.

It is preferred to join the side pieces of the removable pocket by a gusseted piece secured to the bottom of the side pieces and to make the side pieces of a length less than the distance between the inner edge of the gussets constituting the end portions of the case,

, so that the sides of the removable pocket may have free play within the case without encountering any obstruction.

There is shown and described herein a removable po'eket having a single gusseted bottom, this gusset being made to conform to the gusseted bottom of the file; but I contem plate the use of a removable pocket having its side parts connected by a gusseted piece formed of any number of gussets and the side parts connected at the ends or bottom, any construction providing two side parts connected at one edge with a gusseted piece coming within the scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention 1. In combination with a case having gusseted bottom and ends and partitions forming a plural number of compartments, a removable pocket consisting of two side pieces connected at one edge by a gusseted piece.

2. In combination with a case having gusseted bottom and sides and partitions forming a plural number of compartments, a removable pocket consisting of two side pieces connected at one edge by a gusseted piece, and with an index formed on an upper edge of the pocket.

3. In combination with a case having gusseted ends and bottom, partitions forming a plural number of compartments and a flap adaptedto close the open edge thereof, a removable partition consisting of two side pieces connected at one edge by a gusseted piece.

4. In combination with a case having gusseted' ends and bottom and partitions forming a plural number of compartments, a removable pocket consisting of two side pieces connected at one edge only by a gusseted piece.

5. In combination with a case having gusseted ends and bottom and partitions forming a plural number of compartments, a removable pocket consisting of two side pieces shorter in length than the distance between the inner edge of the gussets at the ends of the case, the side piecesof the pocket being connected at the bottom by a gusseted piece.

CLARENCE H. WILEY.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR B. JENKINS, ERMA P. (JOFFRIN. 

